


Bare Love

by JillyWinchester



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-04-28 09:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14445933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillyWinchester/pseuds/JillyWinchester
Summary: -Keep in mind that Bart comes from a Reach ruled future, M/M would not be logical or productive, so it would have been punished-Bart Allen had done it.  He'd traveled to the past, and now he was going to stop the Blue Beetle form causing the apocalypse. Trouble is, the Blue Beetle's actually a nice guy, and the guy he was meant to work with forever.ALSO! Mentions of attempted sexual assualt





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING
> 
> In this chapter, there is attempted sexual assualt, if you want, skip this chapter, and I'll put a summary of it in the next one. This is the ONLY mention of sexual assualt, so after this chapter, you're good.

        Bart was the fastest in the camp- even with the inhibitor collar pinching at his neck; and he was glad for this fact, seeing as a mad, moded gang was currently chasing him. However, being fast doesn’t help when you’re up against a wall and surrounded.

        “Hey, guys!” Bart laughed shakily. “Heh, whatcha doing all the way out here? Aren’t you supposed to be helping Blue Beetle unload those trucks over by the pit?” ‘

        The Pit’ was where the Reach threw prisoners’ bodies- the one's Blue Beetle didn't destroy.  They died from exposure, sickness, or old age (but that was rare).  

        “You know what we’re here for, bare,” spat Mulligan. He was the tallest and meanest, so he was naturally the gang’s leader.

        “Yeah! Ya impotent bastard!” Ron, Mulligan's toadie yelled.

        “Quiet, Ronnie, I’m trying to think!”

        “Yeah! Shuddap Ron!” all the other gang members yelled, shaking Ron around.

        “Mute your moded mouths!” Mulligan screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to get control of his crew.

        “Well, if it’s all the same to you,” Bart whispered. “I think I’ll leave you to it, you seem kinda busy” He tried to slink away, but Mulligan grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. “

        Listen here, bare, you are going to please us, just like all idempotents are meant to do!” Bart tried to get free-but Mulligan’s grip was too strong.

        “I’m not bare! Nobody knows if my second is a girl or not!” Bart struggled again- scratching at Mulligan's arms.

        “Your second!” Mulligan’s gang gave a bunch of whoops and hollers. “Well, I knew you were a fag, but really, I didn’t think you would cheat on your mate!’”

        “HEY!” Bart’s world began to sway, and something hit him, sending him tumbling to the ground. “GO! GET OUT OF HERE SCUM!” He watched as Mulligan and his gang ran away with their tails between their legs.


	2. The Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart and Nathan hatch a plan

“Do you ever wish none of this ever happened?”  
Nathan was sitting across from Bart, staring into the fire they started just outside the barracks. He had saved Bart from Mulligan and his gang a few weeks ago. “That the Reach never came, that your loved ones never died, that your life wasn’t such a mess, that the world wasn’t such a mess?”  
Bart looked up from his nutrient pack to stare at Nathan. “Of course. But it’s not like we’ve got a time machine.” Bart shook his head. “If we’re gonna fix the Earth, we gotta fix it in the present.”  
Nathan stood up abruptly, knocking the bucket he was sitting on over, “But... What if we DID have a time machine?!”  
“Shh!!” Bart shrunk into himself, looking around for anyone eavesdropping on them. “We don’t have a time machine. And even if we did, you can’t go shouting things like that, especially out in the open like this. And sit down!”  
Nathan sat down next to Bart.  
“What’s wrong with you anyway?” Bart squinted his eyes; he hoped this guy wasn’t some crazy old geezer bent on escape; no one ever escapes the Reach.  
“Sorry, I just, when I was your age, I read a theory, one that could help us build a time machine,”  
“What kind of theory?” Bart whispered, scooting closer to Nathan  
“Uh, well, it boiled down to using nuclear energy to tap into this thing called the speed force,”  
“The speed force?” Bart asked, scooting even closer. ‘Speed force’ sounded familiar, really familiar.  
“Yeah, the news said that that was how the Flash ran fast without blowing up the Earth,”  
Bart nodded, smiling. He remembered Dad telling him about that when he was little.  
“I think we can work with that- if we can get this thing off me,” Bart pointed at his collar.  
“Really? We’d have to get away from the main camp, get to the island, where there are no Reach soldiers, but I think we can do that. I know a few people. What’s your plan, kid?”  
Bart tried to appear nonchalant, but he was practically buzzing with excitement. “I can tap into the speed force. Flash was my grandpa, and I think I can power your time machine.”


	3. Chapter 3

Bart studied all the history books he could get his hands on before he went back to the past. Of course, those history books were just stories from Nathan, but any info is good info.

“You know that’s a one-way trip, right?”

Bart knew. He had known for weeks. You can’t build a time machine without wondering whether or not you’re coming back.

“Yep. Well, who would want to come back to this place anyway?” Bart would. He would want to know his soulmates, even if he couldn’t have kids. Bart would meet his grandpa and be able to run freely for once in his life. He finished tightening the bolt he was working on and hopped in.

“WAIT!”

Oh, he almost forgot to say goodbye. “You’ll need these.” Nathan handed him a pair of black fingerless gloves. Puzzled, Bart took them.

“They’re what I wore when I was your age. They still had bullies then. Even protests about how unnatural we bares were, covers your names ya see,”

Nathan looked at Bart’s palms, where fate had written the names "Jaime Reyes" and "Khaji Da.". “Don’t you worry though, squirt, you’ll be fine,”

He looked forlornly in the distance, then Back at Bart again. “Much better than here.” “Goodbye” That’s all Bart could say. But that’s all Nathan needed. He ruffled his hair again and smiled.

* * *

 

The past was weird. It was so colorful, and happy, and one look at the news saw that bares were fighting for their rights. Bare wasn’t an insult; the word didn’t even exist. Bares were allowed to live with their soulmates. The past was great. But soon, Bart thought it wouldn’t be. In the next few months, the Reach will dull the color and will take away all bare’s rights. Make them feel worthless and unloved. That made Bart turn the TV off.

“Something wrong, Bart?” Joan asked him from the kitchen, stopping making a massive pile of pancakes the size of the Chrysler building for a second. She was so great. She gave him all the food he wanted, talked to him, let him stay up late at night, and came into his room when he had nightmares.

“No,” Bart lied through his teeth. “Just wasn’t very interested in the program.” He wasn’t sure if 'program' was the right word though, cause Joan scrunched her brows at it.

“Okay,” she didn’t ask questions though, and Bart was grateful for that. “You going to see Jaime today? You guys seem like pretty good friends.”

“Yeah, I am, if I don’t get a mission first,” Bart smiled and glanced down at one of his gloved hands. He wondered whether when this was all over, he and Jaime could be friends.

“You and your missions,” Joan shook her head, as if Bart didn’t save the world on these missions, but played baseball out back. “if you do get one, Nightwing will probably put you in with Jaime anyway, he knows you two are friends.”

“Yeah,” Bart had noticed that they were on the same squads recently. “Well, I gotta go.” He shoveled the rest of his pancakes into his mouth. “Thanks for breakfast!”


	4. Mates

Jaime knew his mate was standing right in front of him, eating all of his freeze-dried chicken whizzies and listening to Nightwings speech about keeping Mt. Justice clean.  What he couldn’t understand was why he wouldn’t admit that they were soulmates. Bart came from the future, so maybe things were different there with soulmates.

Or maybe Bart was afraid of him.  He was the big bad blue beetle after all.  Maybe in the future, soulmates didn’t, don’t, won’t matter as much as they do in the present.  People choose their soulmates and don’t pay any attention to the names on their palms.

 **Jaime Reyes.** Khaji Da suddenly cut in.   **You should tell the Impulse your feelings.  Delaying in doing this will only complicate the situation more.**

“I can’t just do that!”  Jaime whispered. “It’s more complicated than that!  This is my soulmate we’re talking about!”

**I am also one of your soulmates, am I not?**

Jaime smiled, glancing down at his other hand, where _Khaji Da_ was written neatly.  “Yes, Khaji, but- Bart is different, he’s from the future and-”  

**Jaime Reyes.  Bart Allen is also my soulmate.  I understand you must be apprehensive considering his origin- however, this does not change the fact the Bart Allen belongs with us.**

“But, what if soulmates are different in his time, and he doesn’t want to be my soulmate?”

“What about your soulmate?”  Bart turned around, chicken whizzies spilling out of his mouth.

“Nothing, Scarab was just asking about soulmates,”  Jaime still hadn’t told Bart Khaji was sentient.

“Mkay!”  Bart turned around cheerfully and began listening to Nightwing’s speech again.

 

After the procedure to cut all Khaji’s ties from the Reach, Jaime needed to talk to Bart.  

“So, hermano, what are soulmates like in your era?”  He asked.

Bart suddenly froze and laughed, a high-pitched, not-real laugh that gave Jaime anxiety.  “Just like here, uh, ya know, I’m gettin’ kinda hungry, see you later!” He ran off, probably to some nearby fast food place, or maybe home.

 _See you later?  See you later?_ Jaime knew that Bart came from the future, but did he just say _See you later?_ He ought to know that they were mates, false matings were just a myth.   **Jaime Reyes.** Khaji’s voice flooded his head.  Your heart rate, arterial tension, and testosterone **** **production have increased.** **_CALM DOWN._ ** **The Bart Allen showed high levels of adrenaline.  Meaning he was fearful**

“Why would he have to be afraid of me?”  

**Not of you, Jaime.  The situation. The Reach are highly logical; perhaps infertile relationships were punished.  Fear may be a conditioned response to the mention of his soulmates.**


	5. Moded

War World was gone.  Jaime had the key, and they had won.  In his triumph, Jaime decided to approach Bart about soulmates.  

This was a bad idea.

Bart shut him down immediately.  “Soulmates are the same in the future as they are here, you didn’t find them as much, the Reach didn’t think they were necessary, but everything was pretty much the same,”  Then he stormed off to the rendezvous point.

Jaime sighed.  “What am I gonna do Khaji?”   **Tell Bart Allen we are soulmates.  Quit, as you say, beating around the bush.**

“Well now he’s mad at me, there’s no way he’ll talk to me now!”

**Then I suggest waiting a few days.  I would also like the Bart Allen to be aware of our mating.**

Jaime sighed.  Of course, he should have been more aware of Khaji’s feelings.  “I’m sorry Khaji, I know this has been hard for you, you just discovered you had a soulmate in the first place and-”

**It’s okay, Jaime.**

“No, carino, it’s not, this has been tough for you, and I’ve been a total drama queen about it while you sit in the backseat, I’m sorry.”

Khaji Da let out a few cute chirps and buzzes to let Jaime know he approved.

***

When they arrived at the rendezvous point, Bart wouldn’t face him, and he kept clenching his fists and huffing.  Suddenly Khaji Da began to fret, frantic beeps and chirps that were _not_ cute and that made Jaime’s heart drop to his shoes.   **JAIME REYES.  SOMETHING IS WRONG.  SOMEONE IS HACKING INTO MY MAINFRAME**

Then, Jaime lost control.

 


	6. Coffee

Dear God.  Dear God Dear God Dear God.  Jaime was on mode, and it was all Bart’s fault.  If he hadn’t gotten so hot with him, maybe he could have prevented this somehow, he should have worked harder, shouldn’t have been so relaxed, should have stayed with Jaime, Dear God this was it.

No.  Bart would find something.  Someway, somehow. This was his mission.  Nathan built a frickin’ time machine with him so he could do this.  So he ’s _going_ _to do this._

“Maybe you should take a break,”  Tim, no, Robin, gotta remember the whole secret identity thing,  told him at 3 am.

“A break?  No. I’m _this close_ to finding an answer; I’ll take a break when Blue’s off mode,”

“Bart, it’s been almost a week since you’ve slept properly,”

“Yeah?”  Tim was getting on his nerves.  “Says workaholic of the year.”

“I’m serious, speedsters need more sleep and food than a pack of elephants, when’s the last time you ate?”

“All he ’s had were some protein bars and coffee,” cut in Zatanna.  Oh, Bart had almost forgotten she was here.

“Bart, I’m staging an intervention.  Go home. Or I’ll call Wally to drag you back there.”

***

Even though he was home, that didn’t stop Bart from working.  The internet was a beautiful place, and even though Wally had come back an hour after he had dropped Bart off to turn off the Wi-Fi, Bart had made a personal hotspot.  Tech was great.

When they finally found Blue and got him off mode, Bart had been up for two weeks.  Well, he had had a few power naps to keep functioning, but according to Great-Grandma Joan, that just didn’t cut it.

Blue noticed immediately how exhausted he was.  “You okay conejito?”

“Totally!  Just a bit tired!”


	7. Family Dinner

**Jaime Reyes.  Bart Allen is not ‘just a bit tired.’  Scans show he is _extremely_ sleep deprived.  Recommendation: Make our mate eat and sleep.  NOW.**

“You sure you’re okay, Bart?”

“Yeah!”  Bart reached behind his back and stretched, suppressing a yawn.  “What’s conejito mean?”

Jaime smiled, pulling Bart in under his arm.  “Nothing, hermano. You wanna grab a bite at my place?  I’ve gotta talk to my parents; they’ll be pretty worried about me,”

 **Jaime Reyes, I suggest you-**  “Alright Khaji, I will”

“What?  Who’s Khaji?”

“Khaji Da is the scarab.  He was trapped too. He’s not evil,”

“Oh,”  Bart started quizzically at where the scarab would be.  “Are you friends? Is he annoying to have on your back sometimes?  Wait sorry, is Khaji a he or a she? What were they telling you?”

Jaime laughed.  Bart was still Bart.  “Yeah, we’re like best friends.  Kinda hard not to be when you’re attached at the spine.  It’s sometimes annoying when he talks to me at school, and I can’t pay attention to a lecture.  He but likes to be called he. He was just telling me the quickest flight path from here to El Paso, and to watch out for commercial airlines.”

“Why haven’t you told anyone about this?”

“Nightwing knows, and you, but everyone else would probably treat him like a robot, not a sentient being, so I’ve kept it on the down low.  Not shouting it to the rooftops, ya know?”

“Crash”

***

Jaime had never introduced Bart to his family, but he had talked to them about him.

He told them he didn’t understand soulmates that he didn’t even know that there could be infertile relationships, and he told them not to mention soulmates at all.  Pretend he was an average kid.

But that was hard, considering that _Bart Allen_ had been written on their son and brother’s palm since birth, and they were still shocked that their son had just come back home after two weeks being missing.

So it should have been no surprise when Milagro asked them if they were going to get married.

_“WHAT?”_

**_JAIME REYES.  DIFFUSE THE SITUATION IMMEDIATELY.  YOU WILL SCARE THE BART ALLEN._ **

But, unfortunately, it took everyone by surprise.

“No!  Haha! Milagro was just kidding!”  Jaime shot a glare at his little sister, _the nerve.  He’d told her not to mention anything!_ “Hey Bart, you wanna go play some video games in my room?”

Bart looked between Jaime and his family.  He’d never visited anyone else’s family dinner, but he was pretty sure this wasn’t normal.  “Sure!”

They put their dishes in the sink and dashed upstairs, where Jaimes Xbox sat, dying to be played.


	8. Mi Alma

“Heh, what was that about?”  Bart laughed as if he thought it was some strange practical joke.

“I.. Bart, take off your gloves,”

Bart looked taken aback, scandalized.  “What?”

Jaime shoved his open palms into Bart’s face.  “I know you’re scared, I know that where you come from, this is probably wrong, I know that you were probably punished for even having our names, but you’re okay now, we’ll protect you, hell, the whole team will protect you.  I just, I need to see my name, know that you’re meant to be with us too, please mi Cielito, let us protect you, let us, let me, help you,”

Bart ignored the tears that had suddenly sprung to his eyes and fumbled with his gloves.  “I, I’m sorry I didn’t approach you before, I, it didn’t seem like the best time,” he finally got his gloves off and smiled, showing Jaime his palms.  “See, all of us are meant to be best friends!” Bart wiped the tears from his eyes.

Best friends?   _Oh, Bart, no._

**Jaime Reyes.  Be sure to explain gently _._ **

“Bart, do you know what soulmates are?”

Bart suddenly seemed to think Jaime’s floor was very interesting.  “Male and Female soulmates are compatible for reproduction. Soulmates of the same sex are not capable of reproduction. However, they prove to be highly productive and work faster and harder together than apart,” he droned.

 _God, they’ve brainwashed him._ “Bart, same-sex couple can have romantic relationships here; they don’t have to be afraid of punishment,”

Bart’s eyes shot up from the floorboards, and he stared intently at Jaime.  “ _What?”_

“Soulmates can snuggle, kiss, they can do anything boy-girl soulmates do.  If you’re not comfortable with that though-”

Suddenly, Bart was next to him.  “We can _be together?”_

“Si carino, if you want,”

The tears were back again, and Bart didn’t try to hide them.

“Oh, Bart, c’mere,”  Jaime pulled Bart into a big hug, and Khaji Da wrapped his tendrils around them.

It was a strange site, two boys embracing, engulfed in blue alien tentacles.

Jaime had never felt so complete _._  It was as if he had just eaten his first real meal.  Anything could happen now; he had his soulmates.

 


	9. Full

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Please comment!

 

When Bart woke up to lazy sunlight worming its way through Jaime’s blinds, he felt full.  Satisfied. He was on top of Jaime and wrapped in Khaji Da’s tendrils.

Before, this would have been his worst nightmare; he would have thought Jaime had blacked out or worse, and the scarab had taken over.  Now, he just felt waves of love and comfort rippling of the two. It was still an adjustment though, but he would get over it.

A few chirps came from Khaji Da, and Jaime started to stretch, smiling.  “Good Morning, conejito,”

“Morning.  What’s that mean?”

Jaime smiled wider, yawning.  “quick little bunny.”

 _Bunny?_ Bart pushed himself off Jaime’s chest so that Khaji’s tendrils fell off him and receded into the scarab.  “I’m not a bunny,”

“You’re a quick little bunny, no matter what you say,”

“Nu’uh!  No way! I am a cheetah! Not a stinkin’ bunny!”

Jaime laughed, grabbing his phone from the bedside table.  “You are a quick little bunny, no way to prove otherw- _oh crap!”_

“What is it?”

“Oh nothing, don’t worry carino, it’s just that we’re late, like, really late-it’s 10.  Your great-grandparents will be worried sick, and the flash will probably send the dogs out for me, you weren’t supposed to spend the night,”

“Oh!”  Bart shot up and ran out the door, completely forgetting about his gloves on the way out.   

  
  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE COMMENT!! It encourages me (and a bunch of other writers) to keep writing! Even if you feel like you don't have anything to say, a simple "Loved it!" really boosts my confidence as a writer and in general, makes my day.


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